Neighborhood Restaurant Group: Grand Delancey

That's a fair comment, but checking on Beer Menus, I'm not seeing anyone that has Palatine or Qualify on draft in Manhattan currently. Brooklyn, yes. I mean, I know you're being a little cheeky, but I think this place should be judged on its consistency, not its opening day menu. I do know one of the managers at this place, so I'm optimistic about this place being a mainstay, although I do think it's a little shitty that it is so close to some established places.

 

I got the small one. Think it was like 7-8 bucks. They don’t list quantity but it was similar to a 4oz pour at OH. Maybe marginally larger. Would guess 5 maybe 6

 

FYI to anyone heading over, the pours are coming out super shitty for some reason. Major head. The 13oz pours are more like 8oz of beer and 5oz of head. I saw multiple people asking for top ups because the pours were so bad. Ask them to fill it up and cut the foam bullshit.

 

Oh my god. I wouldn’t even know where to begin. That lager list alone would occupy me all night.

 

damn..that sucks

 

psycho here- it was mellow but service was still sort of slow. i too got Ba abraxas at the 11th hour after i had already closed out and was about to leave. confident by 5 it will devolve into full on shitshow. i was told no bottles until monday~.

 

Anyone know how busy it is now? About to leave work

 

Im here now with some ba abraxas...its busy but not slammed

 

I’m also here. Picking up a bit now but still very manageable

 

Yeah just got here, I'm in the blue sweater and tan jeans near a front table if anyone wants to chill

 

Was just wondering how many people from BA are all standing there at the bar, right next to each other, without a clue that they "know" each other. Way to be a beacon for beer nerds everywhere.

 

I am friendly and unintimidating. People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late.

 

Is it busy? Just realized its on my way home so I might stop by.

 

No it's not bad, and there are servers going around

 

Taplist took a bit of a nosedive today. Decent but no real bangers on there.

Be prepared for some sloooooooooow service

 

Stopped in yesterday. As a big fan of Churchkey and The Sovereign (and Engert's need to maintain attention on imports in general), I've been patiently waiting for this place to open. I like the openness of the booths but the bar feels claustrophobic. In general, I'm also not really a fan of the modern-corporate-West Elm-chilly aesthetics of the current generation of beer bars compared to a place with a big worn wooden bar. This place is certainly the former. Leaving just to use the restroom is odd at first. Greg was a very pleasant guy to talk to.

Yeah, service was slow at the tables (something that really annoys me), but fine at the bar. The food that I ordered that came from one of the vendors in the market came really, really fast. My first impression is that the food situation might be really nice compared to other places.

But a "nosedive" with no "bangers?" Were you looking for sausage? They had those too. Everything I wanted from opening was still there when I went. As @guinness77 mentioned, it's a ridiculous list for a lager lover:
- Bluejacket w/ Bierstadt Lagerhaus Rauchbier
- Ganstaller Andy's Gooseator
- Aecht Schlenkerla Helles from side-pull tap
- Hill Farmstead Mary from side-pull tap
- Monchsambacher Lagerbier

The above in one place is insanely good. I haven't seen the Monchsambacher available over here in about a decade or so. If you're thinking that nobody cares about those beers but me, then you could settle for Hill Farmstead's second highest rated IPA on this site instead. Is that not a "real banger?"

I agree on your comment about the bottle menu. It's also clear that they are priding themselves on their 20oz servings as an attempt to be different from the NYC craft culture. They also lose a point because when I ordered the Monchsambacher, they brought it to me in a glass that clearly wasn't 20oz. I mentioned it and someone behind the bar investigated the menu and agreed. They also list the serving glass on the menu (stein in this case), so it should be pretty obvious to all. When you get a $10 check for a drink that wasn't served at the proper size, it stings. The small pours there are all 4oz. I wish they did half pours instead. When the two options are $9 for 20oz or $4.50 for 4oz, you wish the smaller pour wasn't so much less. Nonetheless, I still like their options. I saw that both of their beer engines had sparklers. What's your stance on sparkers: A) love em, B) hate em, C) don't care, D) why for the love of God is this even a debate for nerds.

 

Yeah I was surprised by that comment too. I mean yeah Abraxas and Cantillon were gone, but still some phenomenal stuff on there. Did you try Jarl? Or opted for lagers? If so what did you think? As far as sparklers go - I mean I guess ideally without. But I’m not super passionate about it. I don’t think I’ve ever had the same beer within a small enough time frame, both with and without a sparkler, for Total Palate Recall™️ to really notice a major difference, to be able to form a super strong opinion (sorry that was a brutal sentence). My general opinion (about everything) is the less dicking around / augmenting, the better.

 

I mainly drank German. I had some of the ones in my previous post (including Double Citra) plus Georgenbrau Buttenheimer Hopfenzupfer and the Mahrs Weizenbock... which was the most stout-like Weizenbock I've ever had. The highlight was Gooseator... which was coincidentally the most stout-like Doppelbock I've ever had. I noticed an English brewer that was totally new to me - Moor Beer Company, but didn't try their porter. I didn't have Jarl, but I've had it in the past including not too long ago. Ginger Man tends to have various Fyne casks frequently. Speaking of which...

I'm seeing more sparklers in the US these days. I don't have a preference regarding sparklers - I'm just too happy to have good cask beer to be picky about it. A bunch of industry folks were hanging around the place while I was there yesterday. They seemed to be drinking plenty of Swish and cask Bluebird. The sparkler was giving the Bluebird a massive head. It looked great. A week ago, I had a few servings of cask Bluebird at the Ginger Man. (The two casks must have come over together. For me, Bluebird can feel really on or really off. The cask at the Ginger Man was great). Unless I'm mistaken, the Ginger Man doesn't use sparklers. The resulting pull was way different. Now that you mention it, I've never had the same cask beer served with and without a sparkler. I just missed a rare opportunity to try that yesterday with Bluebird... but there were just too many bangers to consider it.

Greg Engert mentioned to me that people said he was nuts to have cask beer there. He's the type to give it a fighting chance. Having a place in NYC with good imports and beer engines is a huge combo for me. There's so little here in that regard. The two at the Grand Delancey (annoying name) just doubled the number of decent beer engines in the city. That's crazy. The difficult thing will be getting good cask options to match up with it.

 

Anyone notice what the St Lam costs? Been looking to try that one for some time.